The Stetson
by AtlantaNova67
Summary: Why did the tenth doctor have a stetson at the beginning of End of Time? And how was a clever ginger named Donna Noble involved? One-shot.


~oO0Oo~

Getting into trouble, now that was something he could handle. Something he could really sink his teeth into and enjoy. Lord knows he'd been dying for some fun. Too much drama. Ood's dropping ominous messages in the middle of a snow storm, the disaster with Donna, and Rose. He deserved a bit of fun and lots and lots of trouble. The universe owned him at least that.

He pulled open the TARDIS doors with a yank and grinned at the sight before him.

Texas. The United States of America. August 12th, 2009.

Right on time for the International Rodeo Fest, an annual occurrence smack dab in the middle of Amarillo, Texas. He shut the TARDIS doors behind him and shoved his hands in his pockets. Now this was something that he could enjoy. The streets were lined with vendors and tourists from all across the world. He bounced down the street with a burst of energy at the sight of all the stands. It was like having thousands of little shops all in the same place. He browsed the stands, looking for some kind of an interesting trinket to take back as a souvenir.

"How'd ya do mister? Can I help you find anythin'?" The TARDIS could translate almost anything, but even she had trouble clearing up the thick southern drawl of the man that had decided the Doctor was his next best customer. The doctor was about to object, but the man must have picked up on his hesitance because he suddenly started talking at ninety miles an hour. "I've got all sorts of things for ya to look at. Ya gotta misses? Bet she's a right looker, pretty boy like yourself. I've got all kinds of things she'd love, j'welry, clothes, shoes… you know how women love their shoes." The salesman flashed the doctor a grin that rivaled his own and continued on about his exotic selection of items. In fact, he found himself struggling to get a word in edgewise and people thought_ he_ had a gob. For the first time in a long time the Doctor found himself declaring retreat. His best chance of survival was to simply grin and nod and slowly back away from the vendor in hopes that he wouldn't notice.

Unfortunately, the salesman did notice and promptly sucked him into buying a Stetson. At the vendor's insistence, the doctor grudgingly dawned on the hat and managed to escape.

Moments later, he was wandering his way through the crowds of people again, satisfied to just stroll along and watch.

At one point he spotted an alien that was blending in with the crowd and he instinctively turned to find Donna. He could just see her reaction, and it would be highly entertaining to watch her paranoia and listen to her mad theories for the rest of the day. He frowned at the empty space that showed itself in the place of where the loud-mouth ginger should be.

He was so caught up in memories of Donna that he didn't even notice the gust of wind had come up and knocked the Stetson right off his head. He just stared into space, reminiscing over his last companion. Her voice replaying in his head, once again telling him off for something he'd said or done, like a disobedient child. It was so realistic that for a moment he thought she was actually in the park with him.

He looked up and blinked.

"OI! Cowboy!" A tall ginger was bearing down on him, hollering.

He blinked again. This was America? Why in the world would Donna Noble be in America?

"Donna?" He asked, bewildered as she marched up to him. He gaped at her, frozen in place.

"You dropp'd this. You Americans can't keep track of anythin'. I keep tellin' granddad to stop telling them how to get places, does he listen to me? No, of course not." She glared at him with her usual haughty air. She shoved the Stetson into his hands. "Take it, and stop starin' at me. I swear it's like you people've never seen a Brit in your life. It's not like we're aliens or somethin'."

The Doctor took the hat, still flabbergasted by the fact that it was, in fact, Donna Noble standing in front of him.

"Right then, put it on. Come on now; don't want all that hair of yours getting' blown 'round."

"Oh," he started. "Oh, right of course." He flashed her a grin and put the hat on. "What'd you think?"

"It's not really you," She stepped back and gave him a good once over. "I mean you're goin' more superhero-businessman, kind of thing, than cowboy really."

"It's a trenchcoat! Not a cape." A hint of fear crept down his spine as he caught the look in Donna's eyes-as if she were sizing him up._ Knowingly_ sizing him up, like she used to do when she was with him and knew who he was. He'd double checked the timeline before he stepped out of the TARDIS. This was Texas, August, 2009. That at least he was positive of. In fact, that's why he was in Texas. He loved this point in human history, but he'd been avoiding London so as to not run into this exact situation.

"Right. And you didn't get it just so you could feel all cool when you're walking down the street and it's flappin' out behind you." She folded her arms and glared at him knowingly.

"Donna?" They both jumped as Wilf rounded the corner. Wilfred looked just as shocked as the doctor did, and did a double take between his granddaughter and the Doctor.

The Doctor let out a sigh of relief. That meant that Donna still didn't know who he was anymore. Or at least shouldn't know who he was.

"Donna, I… Oh… Hello. Ummm…" Wilf stuttered for the right words, obviously not sure what to say without giving away anything important.

The doctor flashed Wilf a huge grin and shook his hand, easing the man of his stumbling words.

"Hello, there. John Smith, you're daughter here was just giving me back my hat. Very kind of her, love this old thing." He patted the hat affectionately. He'd dropped his London accent and settled to a very generic one, very similar to what 78th century Earth was known for.

"It's brand new," Donna remarked.

He tempted a glance at the hat, but it was too high on his head.

"Right, well, time… it's all relative really. Anyway, thanks again for getting my Stetson. Stetson's are cool. Really, gotta run," he motioned to the path behind him and was starting to edge backwards. "Rodeo's to see, people to talk to, more hats to buy…" He was about to make his getaway and was steadily working on making a run for it, when Donna caught on and shot him a death glare.

"Cool it, Cowboy."

"Really, I've got to—"

"First off, Rodeo's that way." She said pointing at a nearby building that he'd obviously missed in his haste to get away. "Second, my granddad, has been dyin' for a picture of a real cowboy since we came on vacation and well, Cowboy, you're it." Donna folded her arms, challenging him to contradict her.

Wilf hid a snicker as the Doctor and Donna had a stare down.

"One picture." He finally consented. Donna grinned.

"Right, hold on. Don't think you can get away. Granddad keep an eye on him." She ran off to talk a tourist into taking their picture. Both men watched as she found a young gentleman and began to both flirt and chat him up, in a way only Donna could manage.

"Doctor, if I had known you were here, I wouldn't have let her out of my sight." Wilf immediately tried to apologize.

"Wilfred, you're fine. Honestly. So, she doesn't remember?" He needed the reassurance that Donna hadn't remembered. Yes, it hurt him to see her still believing that all she could give the world was her experience as a temp, but if he'd had to sacrifice her, he'd like to know that at least it was all worth it in the end.

"No, no of course not. At least not so far." Wilfred murmured.

"Good, good." There was a long moment and he shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking on his heels. There was a fine line between an accident and a coincidence and discerning between the two could be difficult. He prayed that this was just an accident and that he hadn't yet again run into Donna because of the aftereffects of the metacrisis. "That's good…" he said again after a while.

Only so much could be passed between the two men before she got done harassing the tourist and came back. She'd almost managed to convince the tourist to come with her.

"How is she?" He asked after a moment, his worry coming through in his tone.

Wilf shrugged and then said, "She's got a fiancé."

"Good, that's good. She always did want to get married," the doctor reminisced.

Wilfred just nodded in agreement as Donna came bounding back with the man she'd trapped in tow.

"Right, Cowboy, big smile. Granddad, right, no, a little to the left…" She pushed them both around as she positioned them for the camera. "There. Perfect."

She quickly slipped in beside Wilfred and grinned as the tourist snapped a picture. "Right, see Cowboy, it wasn't that bad." She gave him a cheeky grin, happy that she'd won.

"So, off you go." She said smiling happily at him, as she fiddled with the camera, trying to turn it back on.

"I'm sorry, what?" She'd just wrestled him into staying and was now shooing him off again. Typical Donna.

"The Rodeo, it's 'bout to start."

"Oh! Right, the rodeo. Of course…" He grinned and held out his hand. "It was fantastic meeting you…"

"Donna, Donna Noble." She met his hand in a handshake.

"Donna," he said fondly. "You both have a brilliant day. I hear the carnival rides here are the best on this side of Texas." He gave them a final wave and tip of the hat before disappearing into the crowd.

Wilf finally stepped forward and tugged on Donna's arm. "Come on, Love. Plenty more things to see."

Donna nodded, staring down at the photo that had just been taken. Her, Wilf, and John Smith the cowboy, all grinning at the camera. There was something about that photo that warmed her heart and she smiled at her granddad and let him lead the away.

The Doctor watched from a distance. Donna Noble, he thought, the most important woman in the universe had stopped to give him his hat. He patted the hat fondly and shook his head in disbelief. She really was an extraordinary woman.


End file.
